Mansouri v. The US Government
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-00785
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Mansouri v. The US Government, Judge Swain ordered Amine Mansouri to pay $402 or request permission to proceed without prepaying fees.
Amine Mansouri, who must either pay the required $402 in fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them within 30 days, or the action will be dismissed.
What happened
In Mansouri v. The US Government, Amine Mansouri brought the action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them. The opinion says Mansouri was representing himself.
The court ordered Mansouri, within 30 days, either to pay $402 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application showing that he cannot prepay the fees. No summons would be issued at that time. If Mansouri did not comply, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Mansouri v. The US Government · No. 1:23-cv-00785
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 22, 2023
Background
Amine Mansouri brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Order
The court explained that starting a civil action required either payment of $402—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submission of a signed IFP application. The court gave Mansouri 30 days from the date of the order to do one of those two things. If he submitted the application, it had to identify docket number 23-CV-0785 (LTS). If the court granted the application, Mansouri would be allowed to proceed without prepaying the fees.
The court directed that no summons issue at that time. It stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Mansouri complied, but that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed period.
Appeal ruling and effect
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order addressed payment or waiver of court fees and did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.